Romancing the Ninja
by Valentine'sNinja
Summary: Yuffie had always known that there was more to Reno than sarcasm and a black suit. She just hadn't counted on him being a friend, a lover, and possibly the love of her life too. RenoYuffie, part 2 of 2.
1. Chapter 1

I've finally got the first part complete. Yay! Welcome to my newest invention which is an attempt at a RenoYuffie. I don't know if the characters are even close to IC, or in particular Reno, but hopefully it isn't too bad. This is a request fic for Tori128, since she's such an awesome person/author/friend. She's already written three requests for me in her fic, _"Excuse Me, I Love You," _and it was only fair to return the favor. Read that story if you haven't, it's one of the best CloudTifa collections out there. So Tori asked for a RenoYuffie with lots of sarcasm and romance, so hopefully I met your expectations in this first part? I won't keep you, so don't forget to let me know how I did!

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fanstasy VII or any of the characters used in this piece of fiction. I am making no money off of them…

_Warnings: this chapter only contains rough language, but next chapter will more than likely contain adult situations and possibly Cid… be warned!_

………………………………………

**Romancing the Ninja**

………………………………………

Yuffie could call herself a master of facial expressions. Though keeping a blank face had always been Vincent's specialty, not hers. Right now though, she was trying to keep a straight face as Reno stared her down, watching her serve drinks and move back and forth behind the counter. Tifa was busily taking orders and serving too because tonight was the last night the bar would be open for the next two weeks. Cloud and Tifa would take a much deserved vacation, and though it was impossible to believe, Yuffie would be in charge of watching over the children.

There was something unnerving about being the center of attention of one man. She was used to being the center of attention in groups, but when it was only one man… _well_, that was an entirely different thing. It wasn't the fact that he was a Turk, or that he had once been an enemy of theirs, not even the fact that he was rumored to be a player—though she had to accept that she had never seen a woman on his arm. Maybe he went to a different part of the city for that. The fact that unnerved her the most was that he was cute, and that she had never had any type of serious relationship. Not even her old crush on Vincent counted.

The angsty gunman was working with Reeve in the WRO, and he was nothing but what she had said, an old crush. She was too young and beautiful to be in a serious relationship at nineteen. Yuffie let out a breath when Reno took a sip of his beer and winked at her over his glass. But damn, he really was hot. She'd have to do some recon to find out if it was true that he had a woman in every city.

"Is it just me, or has Reno been watching your every move tonight?" Tifa asked as they passed each other behind the bar.

Yuffie smirked and shrugged. "He can look all he wants. This work of art is off limits," she said with a grin.

"Maybe you should ask him on a date."

"A girl doesn't ask a guy out," Yuffie declared quietly, feeling the red-head's eyes on the back of her head. "If he wants a piece of this, he'll have to work for it," she said before moving on to serve more drinks.

Tifa smiled and shook her head to herself. She loved Yuffie like a sister, but sometimes the ninja confused her beyond anything. At least though, she had moved on from Vincent and was now showing interest in someone who would actually pay attention to her. Though by the time they decided to make a move and finally went on a date, they'd be using canes to walk. Tifa shrugged to herself and winked at Cloud where he sat by the door, sipping a glass of wine. He winked back and she smiled pleasantly before getting back to work.

…

"Are you going to nurse that beer all night or are you gonna finish it and leave?" asked Yuffie in annoyance.

Reno stared at her and grinned. "What's the problem, short stuff? I paid for it, I can finish it at any pace I want!"

Yuffie placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "I thought you wouldn't be sober by now."

"That's a very unfair thing to think of me. I'm not a drunk," he muttered.

"Yeah, well, tell that to someone who hasn't seen you chug a bottle of Corel wine in less than two minutes," Yuffie said cheekily.

"But that's wine. It's not the same as beer or any other kind of hard liquor," Reno put in with a small shrug.

"We're closing up. Are you done yet?" Yuffie asked with a slight smirk.

Reno downed what was left of his beer and stood to walk with Yuffie towards the door. Only one more person was left, and he had already shuffled out the door. "Yeah. There's one more thing," said the Turk before Yuffie shut the door on him.

"And what's that?" Yuffie asked tiredly, leaning against the doorway.

Reno looked her in the eye. "Go out with me."

Yuffie stared at him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Because we'd make a hot couple wherever we may go," he said with an easy grin.

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I have two weeks of babysitting to do and no time to date. Come back in two weeks and ask me again," she said with a small smile, shutting the door before he could get another word out.

"Why didn't you just make the date for two weeks from now?" asked Tifa as she pushed in a couple of chairs.

"He has to work for it now. I need to know that I'm not just another notch on his bedpost or something like that. He'll learn that I'm not as easy as the women he's used to going after," Yuffie said smartly, picking up the leftover glasses.

"You're thinking of going out with Reno?" Cloud asked in disgust. "Why?"

"Because _you_ are already taken," Yuffie said, winking at Tifa before the martial artist decided to rip her head off with one kick. Tifa just smirked.

Cloud rolled his eyes, but his cheeks colored a little in embarrassment. "There will never be anyone but Tifa," he muttered.

Yuffie felt like 'awwing' at his words, but refrained, opting instead to snicker at Tifa's bashful blush. "Get a room!" she hooted.

"We will," Tifa replied. "We just need to clean the bar up first."

"Boy, am I glad my room is on the other end of the hall," Yuffie muttered.

Tifa just smiled. "Tomorrow we're leaving at eight in the morning. The kids are on vacation, but before they can go out and play or watch TV they need to get at least five pages of their homework packets done. Don't let them eat candy after nine o'clock."

"Why? Will they turn into gremlins or something if I feed them after a certain time?" Yuffie asked with a grin.

Cloud snorted and Tifa just gave her a playfully stern look. "_No candy after nine._ They should be in bed by nine-thirty, maybe ten, but I don't want them getting into the habit of going to bed late. They'll get used to it and it'll be harder to put them back into the schedule when it's time to go back to school," she said seriously.

"Got it," Yuffie said as she began to wash the glasses.

"Emergency numbers are taped to the fridge. Barret didn't much like the idea of you taking care of the kids because he says that all three of you are too much trouble and that you'll probably burn down the bar while Cloud and I are gone."

"That's not true!" Yuffie nearly yelled. "I promise to take care of this place _and _the kids while you're gone. I'm not a kid anymore, Tifa. You guys need to stop treating me like one."

Tifa gave her an apologetic look and nodded. "Then this is your chance to prove it. Also, don't bring any boys in here once the children go to sleep."

"Hey!"

"Most importantly, don't bring Reno in here," Cloud muttered as he began to sweep the floor.

Yuffie just rolled her eyes and watched him and Tifa share a laugh. She didn't mind it though. It had been so long since she had last seen Cloud and Tifa so care free, they deserved to smile and laugh as often as possible. She just wondered what her answer to Reno's question would've been had she not been babysitting for the next two weeks. Yuffie just shook her head and decided to push those thoughts out of her mind. She wasn't too sure that she wanted the trouble that came with dating a Turk.

……………

"Yuffie, can I get some marshmallows?"

"No."

"How about a bag of those flaming chili chips?"

"No."

"Aww. Why not?"

"Are you gonna tell me where all the eggs in the fridge went, kid?" Yuffie asked, turning to Denzel as they walked down the cereal aisle of the local grocery store.

"I don't know anything about that," Denzel said evasively, looking at the various box of cereals they were passing by.

"If I tell you what he did with them, can I get some strawberry ice cream?" Marlene asked with a grin.

"Marlene!" Denzel exclaimed, not believing that he was about to be sold out for some too sweet ice cream.

"Alright, Marley. You got yourself a deal," Yuffie said, shaking the girl's hand.

"He went off with Reno yesterday and they egged some kid's house because he made fun of Denzel's pitch at the game!" Marlene said in one breath.

Yuffie's eyes narrowed as she turned on the boy. "Reno? You asked Reno to help you prank someone when _I _was around and you didn't ask me?" she asked indignantly. "Why!?"

"If it's a question about who's more awesome then who, then we already know it's me. Besides, you were too busy playing dolls with Marlene to notice what Denny was up to," said a drawling voice behind them.

Yuffie had to refrain from sighing in frustration as she slowly turned to look at Reno. "What are you doing here? Are you stalking me now? You know, that's not the best way to get a date out of me," she said, beginning to walk off with the kids once more.

Reno stepped up next to her and took a look inside the cart. "You plannin' some type of party?" he asked, taking in the marshmallows, boxes of various cookies, strawberry ice cream, and popcorn.

"No," Yuffie said, turning towards the aisle with the bottled drinks.

"Can I come?" Reno asked, loading a six pack into the cart.

Yuffie took it out. "I'm not paying for your booze, Reno," she said in annoyance. "And it's not a party. We're just going to eat junk food and watch movies this weekend. Starting tomorrow night."

"I like movies. What kind of movies?" Reno asked, putting on his best begging face.

The ninja shared a look with Marlene and the girl giggled. "We're watching '_Beauty and the Beast_'. And then we're going to watch more princess movies!" Marlene said excitedly.

Reno turned to Denzel who had kept unusually quiet through it all. "You're okay with watching… _princess _movies?" he asked incredulously.

"What do you think all the cookies are for? Besides, we're watching a werewolf movie once Marley goes to sleep," said Denzel evilly.

"How about I come over and keep you girls company then?" Reno asked, winking at Marlene. "I know some pretty scary stories."

"I thought Cloud said not to bring Reno into the house," Denzel said.

Yuffie chuckled nervously when the Turk raised a brow and looked at her. "You've been talking about me with _Cloud?_" he asked in interest.

"Hehe… no, Tifa was just worried that you'd drink her booze without paying," Yuffie said, hurrying towards the dairy section to get some more milk and eggs.

Reno had to jog to keep up with her and the kids. He hadn't really been following her, he had just happened to find himself at the grocery store because Rude had kicked him out of their apartment. Rude seemed to think that he was talking way too much about finding a way of convincing a certain ninja to date him. In all truth, Reno thought she was cute and wouldn't mind getting to know her a little.

He was very aware of the fact that if he screwed her over in some way, she would have the pilot, the vampire gunman, the man with the gun on his arm, and the swordsman on his ass so fast, he wouldn't know what hit him. Not to mention that she seemed to have eerie control over the WRO commissioner as well. What was it about her that seemed to make her the center of every man's world?

"Slow down, will ya? If I promise not to drink the booze, or to curse around the small fries, can I come?" Reno asked again.

Yuffie stopped the cart and turned to look at him, meeting those blue-green eyes unflinchingly. "Why are you so interested in being around me?" she asked him seriously.

Reno stared at her but said nothing for a moment. He had never been intimidated by any female, this one shouldn't have been the exception. "Let's face it, you and I can't keep skating around the mutual attraction. We either take it head on, or we keep acting like teenagers."

Yuffie smirked. "So you're volunteering to watch princess movies as long as you spend time with me?" she asked dubiously.

"Yeah," Reno said with a grin. "I'll just have to bring my own booze to this," he added.

Against herself, Yuffie laughed and nodded. "Fine. But you have to do something more for me."

"What's that, short stuff?"

"First off, stop calling me short stuff. It's not a cute nickname. If you really want to be on my good side, call me 'White Rose,' or, 'Your Grace,' or even, 'Princess'. 'Short stuff,' is not something that I enjoy being called. Second, you have to push the cart," she said, walking ahead with Marlene and Denzel.

Reno looked at the cart and realized that at the grocery store, Rude was usually in charge of pushing the cart, since be shopped alone. He had told Reno that he was worse than a child when it came to buying their weekly supply of rations. Huffing to himself, he pushed the cart. When had he gone soft for a pair of brown eyes and nice legs?

…………

Preparing for their night of movies, junk food, and general pigging out, Yuffie grinned to herself. Tifa hadn't banded junk food _before_ nine-thirty at night, so until then, everything went. As she prepared to pour the popcorn into a bowl, the sound of thunder, followed by lightning caught her attention, as well as the fact that the lights flickered. Great. All they needed was some type of power failure. Then what would she do with two freaked out kids and no light?

There was a knock at the door and Denzel answered it after he confirmed that it was Reno. They seemed to have developed some type of friendship while no one had been looking. Yuffie didn't think that was a good idea. Reno was even more devious than herself, and that was saying a lot.

"Brought the booze!" Reno announced, taking a look at her as she stood, waiting for another bag of popcorn to finish.

Yuffie shot him a small glare. "You can't seriously be thinking about getting drunk around the children. They don't need to see that."

"I won't be getting drunk, just a little… _buzzed_," Reno replied, taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl. "When is the movie starting?"

"As soon as Yuffie brings the snacks in!" Marlene called from the living room.

"Make yourself useful and help me, will you?" Yuffie asked, picking up a few bottles of juice.

Reno just nodded and picked up the bowl of popcorn, the bowl of chips, and a couple of napkins. As he stepped into the living room, the lights flickered with the sound of thunder and then died with the lightning. "Great," he muttered to himself.

"Yuffie?" Marlene asked in a shaky voice from somewhere to his left.

"I'm right here, kiddo, there's no need to be scared," Yuffie assured the girl. "The dark only holds shadows that can't hurt us."

"Okay," said Marlene quietly, letting out a little sigh of relief when she felt Yuffie sit next to her and squeeze her hand.

"I'm going to find some candles or some flashlights. You stay here with Denny and I'll be right back, 'kay?" the ninja asked her seriously.

"Yeah," said Marlene, squinting in the dark as Denzel took a seat next to her.

"I'll go with you," Reno said, following Yuffie as she blindly began making her way towards the kitchen and where she had remembered seeing Tifa place some candles in a drawer. She stopped when she nearly ran into the doorway, but in the dark, Reno wasn't able to keep from bumping into her. He slid a hand over her waist in an effort to steady himself, but Yuffie wondered if he truly had issues with his balance.

Reno nearly bumped his nose with her head, but he took the opportunity to take in the scent of the dark strands. "Gotta watch where you're going. A guy could just end up falling all over you," he murmured, his fingers still on the warm skin of her stomach.

Yuffie had to refrain from shivering, but she slowly pulled away from him. She felt her way around the kitchen until she found the drawer she had been looking for. Bringing out the candles and the matches, she lit one and turned to find those blue-green eyes staring right back at her. "Don't try to be slick," she said cheekily, turning to walk away with her light.

"Slick is my middle name," Reno replied, grabbing her arm and turning her before she was out of the room. "Why won't you take me seriously?" he asked.

She looked at him. "Have you ever been serious about anything in your life?"

Reno had to think it over and nodded. "I've been serious about my job, though it may not seem like it. I do it my way, but I get things done," he said. "I'm serious when I say that I want to get to know you."

"Where would you take me on our first date? Don't think about it. Just answer of the top of your head," Yuffie said.

"To dinner. Somewhere nice and where there will be no interruptions," Reno said quickly.

"No interruptions for what?" Yuffie asked, beginning to walk off towards the kids again.

"For you to realize that I ain't just a pretty face," Reno said, placing a candle on the coffee table and lighting it. "So… what are we gonna do while we wait for the lights to come back on?"

Marlene crawled over to sit next to Yuffie and the bowl of popcorn. Denzel just looked bored with everything going on. "How about we tell each other scary stories?" asked the boy, grabbing a bag of chips from the table.

"I've got the perfect story for this then," Reno said, sitting on the couch and grabbing the candle so that it would cast an eerie shadow over his face.

Yuffie sighed and held back a grin when Marlene tensed and Denzel grinned. Reno's eyes met Yuffie's and he smirked as he began to tell his story.

……………

"You really freaked them out, you know," Yuffie said as she came out of the kids room after having tucked them in. Marlene had been completely freaked, but she had been tired and had fallen asleep quickly, making her promise to leave the door wide open.

Reno shrugged. "I didn't think my story was _that _bad," he said, following her down towards the bar. They sat at the bar counter and Reno brought out the bottle of liquor he had brought over himself. "What are you still doing in Edge? I thought your pops would've wanted you back in Wutai."

Yuffie shrugged. "The old man has found himself someone else to pester. He's… getting married."

"And you're… okay with that?" Reno asked, taking a sip of the bitter liquid.

Yuffie swallowed down her own share and shook her head. "No… no, I mean yes. It's just that… it's only been him and me for years and now there's someone else. I'm stuck between hating this woman for taking my dad away, but at the same time, I want him to be happy."

"But you ain't angry that he's moving on, right? It's taken him a lot of years to get over the death of your mom, right? Think of this as him finally healing and being truly happy, the same thing he wants for you," Reno told her quietly.

Yuffie had to smile. "Wow. Never thought I'd hear something smart come from _your_ mouth," she said.

Reno smirked and leaned towards her, watching as her brown eyes blinked up at him. "All I want to hear from _your_ mouth is the sound of my name."

"Reno," she said in exasperation.

"Just like that," he murmured, their lips brushing.

Yuffie had to stop and remind herself how to breathe. Was she really kissing Reno, the Turk that had once fought her friends and had tried to defeat them more than once? He was being so unlike the man she was used to dealing with, she didn't know what to think anymore. The taste of him was a mix between alcohol and something sweet, possibly mint gum.

"Will you go out with me now? We don't even have to go to dinner if you don't want to. We'll just go somewhere we can talk," Reno offered after pulling away.

The ninja watched him in the dark and thought about it for a moment. "_You_ want to go somewhere to _talk_?" Yuffie asked him incredulously.

Reno smirked and nodded. "Don't look at me like that, princess. The rumors about me are greatly exaggerated."

"You mean the ones about you in the sack?" Yuffie asked smartly.

"Those aren't rumors, babe. Those are facts," he said smugly. "I meant the rumors about me having a girl in every city. That was before Meteor and all that. I'm a different man."

"Why is it that I find that hard to believe?" she asked, ignoring the way his eyes stared at her lips.

"That's where the date comes in. if I'm honest with you, and these days I'm too damned honest to make a living as a Turk," he said with a wink, "I like you."

Well, she couldn't complain about him not being honest with her. As usual, her mouth ran away with her. "How about we just order a pizza and go somewhere we can truly see the stars?" she asked, noticing that one of his hands was in her hair, gently touching the silky strands.

"Not the fancy type, huh?" he asked.

"Can you see yourself in a tie?" Yuffie countered.

"Nope. I can get Rude to let me borrow one, but I don't think he'll like the idea of me getting it dirty," said Reno with a grin.

"You'll still have to wait for nearly two weeks for our date though," said Yuffie, noticing how the lights from outside made his eyes gleam like a cat's. And in all actuality Reno was like a big cat. He was slick, lazy, and far too friendly. It made Yuffie want to giggle.

"What's that saying, 'good things come to those who wait?' I'll just wait the week and a half," he said with a shrug.

Yuffie grinned and nodded, her eyes drifting shut as he moved towards her for another kiss.

"_Yuffie!"_

They broke apart and Yuffie sighed, moving away from Reno as she approached the stairs. "I'll be right up, Marley!" she called back.

"The light went out again!" Marlene called shrilly.

"Okay kiddo, let me just lock the door and I'll be right up," Yuffie replied. She turned back to Reno and smirked. "I'll be expecting a good date. Not a fancy one, but a good one."

Reno nodded. "On Saturday night when Tifa and Chocobo-head get back?" he asked.

Yuffie nodded and grinned. "Until then," she said, nearly pushing him out the door.

"Hey," came his muffled voice. "That's the second time you've shoved me out of this bar!"

"Get some sleep, smartass!" she called before making her way up the stairs and towards Marlene's room. She and Denzel had whined, wheedled, and cajoled until Cloud and Tifa had finally allowed for Denzel to take Cloud's old room, leaving Marlene to her own room too. "What's going on, Marley? I thought we were getting too old to get scared at scary stories."

Marlene patted the spot next to her and Yuffie lay down next to her, stroking the girl's long, soft hair. "I know, but Reno's story was scary, and with Denzel making all those noises, I freaked out."

"Don't tell your pop that Reno was here, okay?" Yuffie asked abruptly.

"Don't worry," said Marlene with a little sigh. "I know that you like him, so I won't get him into trouble."

Yuffie felt herself blushing in the darkness. "How are you so sure that I like him?"

"Your eyes get all sparkly the way Tifa's do when Cloud looks at her or smiles. It's kinda obvious," Marlene said smartly. "Do you think you'll end up marrying him?"

Yuffie snorted in laughter. "Yeah right. I'm too awesome to get married just yet. But I'll see if Reno is someone I want to be with."

"I like Reno," Marlene admitted, her voice growing softer as she began to slip into slumber.

"Yeah… me too," Yuffie said with a smile.

…………

"I'm getting out of shape," Yuffie muttered to herself as she walked out of a WRO training room.

"What was that?" asked a deep voice from behind her.

Yuffie turned and grinned, nearly jumping into Vincent's arms when she saw him standing there, looking as hot as always. "I was telling myself that I'm getting out of shape. It's either that, or Tifa has actually been making her cookies with regular sugar," she said. "I usually run thirty lap during training, but today I only got to twenty-eight when I had to stop."

"Twenty-eight and you call yourself out of shape? I've seen the pool. It's larger than the Shera," said Vincent as they walked together towards Reeve's office.

Yuffie sighed and let out a small laugh. "I guess you're right. I'm being dramatic," she said, bumping his side gently.

"How are you doing these days, Yuffie?" he asked her.

"I'm good. How about you? No more thoughts on coffins, right?"

Vincent smirked and shook his head. "My work with Reeve certainly keeps my mind off of those things. But… what are you doing here? Weren't you babysitting for two weeks?"

Yuffie nodded and shrugged. "Barret came over to take Marlene and Denzel for the day. They were going to go to the arcade and to lunch so that I could get a small break since he's in town. I bet he's just checking up on me and asking the kids questions about how good a babysitter I am," she said, eyes narrowed.

"Do not worry yourself. I'm sure you are doing a good job," said Vincent lightly.

"Aww, Vince!" Yuffie said, clinging to his arm and giving him a squeeze. "You're so sweet," she said, smirking when she noticed the exasperated look in his eyes as they both walked in to see Reeve.

Both were unaware though, of blue-green eyes watching their interaction. He turned to his partner when Rude cleared his throat. "What does she see in that guy? He's like fifty-thousand years old and he smells like something that's been too long in a closet," Reno grumbled.

"You've… smelled Valentine before?" Rude asked, smirking.

"That's not the point, man!" Reno snapped. "The vampire just swoops in and destroys all that I have worked for. It's not fair, damn it."

"You're being dramatic," said Rude. "Just ask him if he's interested in her."

"Wouldn't that piss _her_ off?" he asked. Rude shrugged. "Fine. I'll ask."

About an hour later, Reno found himself in the WRO locker room, trying to figure out where Valentine was. He caught him standing in front of his own locker, holstering his gun and counting his materia. The picture pasted onto the inside of the door made something twitch in his chest. It was an image of Yuffie, hanging off of Valentine's arm and throwing her other arm in the air in a type of cheer. The smile on her face was bright and something he hadn't quite seen on her face the last few times he had seen her.

"You interested in the ninja?" Reno asked him abruptly.

Vincent slowly turned to look at him and gave him a cold look. "Why is that any of your business?"

Reno tried not to look intimidated, but the man had a huge gun and the scariest glare that had ever been aimed at him. He waved vaguely towards the picture on the locker door. "… that," he muttered.

Vincent gave him a scrutinizing look. "Yuffie pasted that onto the locker door with some type of permanent solution. I couldn't get it off, so there is stayed. Are _you _interested in Yuffie?" he asked calmly.

"What if I am?" Reno asked smugly, puffing out his chest a little.

"It would do you well to not hurt her. Yuffie means a lot to her friends and we are willing to defend her from anything and everything," said Vincent in a deathly quiet tone.

Reno took a step back and grinned. "I understand, man! I'm not out to play with her. I just wanted to know if you and her… you know. If you were, I know that I wouldn't stand a chance," he muttered.

Vincent looked over at the picture and smirked. Yuffie was only his friend and he appreciated her very much, but nothing more. "We are only friends," he assured the other man. He was cooperating because it wasn't up to him determining if Yuffie was doing the right thing in letting the Turk in. "Heed my warning Reno, do not hurt her," said Vincent. Then he was gone with a snap of his cape and his quiet steps.

Reno stared into space and grinned to himself, wondering what he could do sweep the ninja off her feet. First, he had to find her and see if she wanted to move their date to tonight.

……………

Yuffie sighed to herself as she waited for Reno at the small park near Seventh Heaven bar. Barret said that he would stay with the kids until morning, and then he would get back to his job, since he was happy that the kids had told her that she was a good babysitter. The ninja had felt the urge to lodge her shuriken where the sun don't shine. But still, at least the big marshmallow had convinced himself that she wasn't totally incompetent.

While she had been walking out of Reeve's office earlier that day, Reno had nearly blindsided her. He had been acting a little weird, though she couldn't say that it was too strange, but he had asked her to move their date up to tonight, since he had heard that she had the day off. She had accepted and been thoroughly curious when he had promised her a night to remember.

That was why she stood in the middle of the baseball field in the dark, wondering how much longer he would make her wait. That was when she heard it. The sound of an approaching helicopter made her look up and frown. She moved back towards the bleachers and stared as the chopper with the Shinra logo landed right where she had been standing. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Reno when he pulled off his seatbelt and got out to approach her, the chopper still on.

He grinned and produced some white roses from inside his coat, handing them to her. "Ready?" he asked as she took the flowers and sniffed them. "It's a little less conventional than a car, right babe?" Reno asked with a grin.

Yuffie nodded with wide eyes but managed to smile as they walked towards the helicopter. "Uh, Reno… you do know that I get air sick right?"

…

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Okay, so how was it as a start? Next chapter is the conclusion of what should've been a oneshot, but grew too big to fit into one. That seems to be happening a lot to me lately. Still, hopefully I didn't go too OOC. How was it Tori? The reference to _Disney _was just for you since I've seen you use the movies in your fics. Next chapter will contain romantic moments, their date and/or _dates_, and possibly some fluff and a little smut. Once more I apologize for taking so long, but when I write a new couple, I hesitate because I don't know if I'll get them right. Hopefully I didn't butcher it too bad. So thank you for reading, and hopefully I'll have a next chapter out soon!

Joey


	2. Chapter 2

_Huggles Tori128 for being so patient._ Thank you so much for waiting and I have nothing to say but thank you to all of you for being so great with my first attempt at RenoYuffie!

_Warnings: Language and adult situations in this chapter. Please don't read if you don't like these type of things or may get into trouble. You've been warned!_

………………………………………

**Romancing the Ninja**

………………………………………

"Airsick? Relax, babe. If you want, you can hold onto me while we fly if you're scared," said Reno, guiding her towards the chopper.

"It's not a matter of being scared. It's a matter of getting sick. Do you really want me near if I decide to hurl my breakfast and lunch?" Yuffie asked him smartly.

Reno looked disturbed. "You're right. I guess it's a good thing that I brought some barf bags along," he said with a smirk.

Yuffie snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, you're so thoughtful. I can't understand why you haven't been picked up by someone by now," she said.

"So far, no one has been able to handle me," Reno said smugly, letting her take a seat in the copilot side.

Yuffie watched Reno as he helped her hook up the seatbelt with deft fingers. His face was serious and his eyes intent on making her safe. Wow, he was hotter than she remembered ever seeing him before.

"Can't take your eyes off of me, huh?" Reno asked with a wink.

She grinned and offered no comment. She just couldn't deny that talking to Reno made her feel so at ease now. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"That… is a surprise. Just sight tight and don't complain," he said before jogging to his side. With quick fingers, he began to turn on the helicopter with an ease that impressed Yuffie. Then he began to pull away from the ground and Yuffie sent a quick prayer to Leviathan so that she wouldn't make a fool of herself because of her airsickness.

She watched curiously as they flew quickly, moving over the wreckage that had once been Midgar. She did remember the night of Meteor quite clearly, including rescuing those who hadn't been able to make it out on their own. Still, so many people had been lost and Shinra had been to blame for creating a monster. Yuffie blinked and let out a sigh as they began to descend. She frowned a little when Reno landed on what had once been Shinra headquarters and had been destroyed by an explosion, then Cloud's battle against Sephiroth, and last by Omega. It was a wonder there was anything stable enough for them to land.

"Are you sure it's safe for us to be here?" Yuffie asked as she began to remove the safety harness and then stepped out of the helicopter.

Reno nodded. "Don't worry about it. Rude and me have been around here a bunch of times and nothing will fall apart just yet. The president is starting a plan to get rid of all the ruins to make way for a new city, free of mako and all that," he said with a grin, sliding open the side door of the chopper.

Yuffie let out a laugh when he grabbed a bottle of wine and a pizza box. "Nothing classy, eh?" she asked.

Reno grinned and nodded. "You didn't want anything fancy, so the lady's wish is my command," he said, grabbing a few other things and motioning for her to begin walking.

Yuffie watched him as he chatted on and on about Rufus' new plan for the city and for making things right again. If there was someone who could beat her in the talking department, it was Reno. He didn't seem to get tired of talking and it didn't seem like he was running out of things to say anytime soon. It took them a while to reach the very end of the canon and they sat there, on a thick blanket, legs dangling over the edge and taking in the amazing view of the ruins and Edge.

"Are we going to chug wine straight out of the bottle?" Yuffie asked him as he opened the pizza box. Amazingly, the slices were still nice and warm.

Reno shook his head and handed her a Styrofoam cup, making Yuffie grin as she held the cups and Reno poured the wine for them. "This may be the cheesiest date you've been on, but I've thought about all the necessary things we'd need. Including plates, cups, food, and booze," he said with a smirk.

They ate in near silence for a few minutes, and then just sat there watching over what had once been a bustling city. Yuffie could spot the remains of the church from where she and Reno were sitting, and she smiled slightly as she thought of Aerith. After a moment of just sitting back and sipping at her wine, she turned to Reno, who was staring at his own cup. "Why are you all serious all of a sudden?"

"Just thinking," Reno replied.

"About?"

"About how I wanna kiss you," he said with a grin.

Yuffie smirked. "Why are you being a gentleman all of a sudden?"

"Don't wanna scare you away or make you think that I just want to do you and move on," said Reno. "That ain't my style… _anymore_."

The ninja grinned when he kept on rambling, giving her an entire speech about how he wasn't the old Reno anymore, even though Rude didn't believe him. She realized now why Vincent always looked exasperated when she started to talk about her day. Leaning forward, Yuffie shoved Reno down and kissed him. He made a small noise of surprise and grinned when he realized that she was doing what he usually did. Taking control.

Drawing away, she smiled. "There. I kissed you instead," she said, watching his bright eyes shine with amusement.

"Damn. I do love a girl who isn't scared of taking chances," said Reno, still on his back.

"Does that mean that we're going on another date?" Yuffie asked.

"Hell yeah!" he replied. "But… aren't you supposed to be babysitting still?"

Yuffie nodded and lay back next to him so that they were both staring up at the sky. "Tell me something about you that no one knows."

Reno sighed and thought about it. Something that no one knew? What would be the point of telling her something that he didn't want anyone to know? He looked at Yuffie and noticed that she was watching him intently, and Reno wondered if his thoughts had been mirrored on his face. "I like to get massages," he blurted out.

Yuffie blinked at him for a few seconds, not really knowing how to respond to that. Then she broke into giggles. Though he should've gotten mad or something of the like, hearing her laugh was one of the sweetest sounds he had ever listened to. She was still laughing when he pulled her into a kiss, letting one of his hands trail through her silky hair. She was still giggling faintly, her own hands in his hair as he kissed her as if he would crawl into her mouth. He was doing particularly distracting things with his tongue, but Yuffie knew that she really didn't want him to think that she was easy.

Moving away from him breathlessly, she stared up at the stars. "Great," she muttered.

"What?" Reno asked, puzzled.

"I think a water drop just fall right on my eye," Yuffie replied.

"Crap. We should go," he said, standing and beginning to grab the things he had brought with them.

"Why?" Yuffie asked, sitting up and giving him a weird look.

"It's hard to fly a chopper through the rain. Last time I tried it, I almost crashed into a mountain," said Reno with a snort.

Yuffie smirked but offered no comment as they packed up the things and walked quickly to where he had left the helicopter. Helping her get into the seat and taking a moment to stare at her. "What?" she asked with a bemused smile.

"I think you're damn cute," he muttered before leaning in to kiss her.

Yuffie smoothed a hand over his jaw and smiled. "You're cute too," she murmured.

"I think I prefer the term sexy," he said cockily.

"Yeah, you would," Yuffie said before making him shut the door. Reno smiled to himself and walked over to his side, starting up the chopper and turning to look at Yuffie as she gripped her seatbelt tightly.

Grabbing one of her nearly white-knuckled hands, he brought it to his lips and kissed it. "Relax, babe. I'll keep you safe," he said lightly.

Yuffie just smiled shyly and let out a little sigh as the chopper took off. Who would've thought that a Turk could be a complete sweetheart? She vaguely wondered if Elena had anything similar with Tseng. Her stomach lurched, and Yuffie sat back, taking deep breaths to calm herself. She'd make sure that their next date was near enough for them to walk to it.

…………

From her perch in a nearby tree, Yuffie watched Denzel and Marlene as they played softball with the neighbor hood kids. At the moment, the scores were tied, and Denzel would either hand his team the victory or the defeat. "I didn't know angels grew in trees," said someone from below where she sat.

Yuffie looked down with a smile, recognizing his voice. "Don't you ever work? I have to wonder why Rufus still keeps you on his payroll if you don't do anything," she replied, easily jumping down to stand in front of him.

"I'm on my lunch break and I wanted to see you," he said, shrugging a little.

"Aww, you're such a sweetheart," she told him, her voice dripping with sweetness just to see the look on his face.

Reno smirked. "How are the small fries?"

"Winning the game," Yuffie said with a grin, pointing to Denzel who was about to score a homerun. "Go Denny!" she cheered, jumping and cheering on as Denzel ran quicker than she had ever seen him go.

Reno took the moment to watch Yuffie, smirking to himself as he watched the open happiness on her face. Had he not been watching her like some type of love sick puppy, he would've seen that the pitcher had thrown a little too far and the softball was heading right towards his head with surprising force. He grunted when the ball hit him right on the head and nearly swayed, cursing up a storm.

"Shit, are you okay?" Yuffie asked, trying not to laugh.

"Just peachy," Reno growled, rubbing his aching head as Yuffie helped him keep his balance.

"Hey Reno, are you okay?" Denzel asked, running over to check on him.

"Just fine kid," Reno assured him. "Did ya win the game?"

"Yeah!" Denzel said happily. "The team is calling me, so I'll see you at home?"

Yuffie looked at Reno and he winked. "Yeah kid. I'll take an extended lunch today," he said before Denzel took off at a run towards his friends. "Besides, I wanna spend some time with this babe I know," he said. "Maybe she can kiss my boo-boo."

Yuffie snickered and nodded. "I'll kiss your lips better," she said, bringing him down for a breath-stealing kiss. "Feel better?" she asked when they pulled away.

"Just a bit. You can give me a massage to cheer me up. I think I'm gonna have a headache for the rest of the afternoon," he grumbled.

"Come on you big baby," she said, taking his hand and nearly dragging him towards the kids. "I'll give you a painkiller so that you can go back to work."

"Aww, and here I was thinking about calling in sick just to be with you for the rest of the afternoon."

"Sorry Reno, but I don't date bums. If you get fired from work, you'd be a bum," said Yuffie cheekily.

Reno rolled his eyes but allowed himself to be tugged. "Geez, the things I do for you woman."

……………

For the following week, she saw him at least for ten minutes every single day. He went out of his way to visit her during his lunch break, which always ended up being longer than an hour, and Yuffie had begun to really wonder just why Rufus kept Reno around when he was seriously doing no work when he was with her.

As she stood outside of the bar, waiting for the mailman, Yuffie looked around at the near empty streets. It was barely midday so most everyone was working. The mail had just recently had started once more and she wondered if they would leave Cloud without a job. According to Reeve, the Edge post office was only for the city, and they still hadn't established a way to deliver mail to further away places. That was still Cloud's job. Yuffie sighed as she heard her cell phone go off, expecting to see Reno's number. Instead, she saw that it was her father's number.

"Single White Rose of Wutai, how can you help me?" she asked with a grin.

Godo snorted a little. "Don't you have a better way to greet your father?"

"No. I think I don't," she said with a small laugh. "What can I do for you, _Lord Godo_?"

"I need you to return to Wutai," he said quietly.

Yuffie's heart fell to soles of her feet. "What?" she nearly whispered. _"Why!?"_

"I need you here with me."

"But… but Godo, I don't think I'm ready for this just yet. I—"

"Yuffie… I have decided to get married in three weeks," said Godo calmly, interrupting her.

Yuffie felt as if he had just dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. "What? _Three weeks?_ Why?" she asked again.

"I'm getting married, and I would very much like it if you were here with me to share such an important day," he said as if speaking to a child.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and suddenly smelled the scent of roses. A white rose caressed her cheek and came into her line of vision. Smiling slightly, she turned her attention back to her father. "I… Godo, I don't know if it's a good idea for me to be there. I'm sorry," she said seriously.

"Don't do this to me, Yuffie."

"Dad… I'm sorry. I'll call you back, okay?" she asked before hanging up and not giving him the chance to reply.

Reno gave her a curious look from where he was leaning against the window of the bar. "What's going on?" he asked, noticing the look on her face.

Yuffie gave him a miserable look and moved towards him for a hug. Reno looked at the top of her head in surprise, but nonetheless wrapped her in his arms. "My dad is getting married in three weeks. I thought it would've taken him longer to actually go through with it," she said with a heavy sigh.

"You're gonna go, right?"

Yuffie shrugged and took in his spicy scent as he gave her a squeeze. "Don't know yet," she muttered.

"This is your pops, Yuffie. You can't miss this day," he said quietly.

Yuffie blinked in surprise. This was the first time ever he addressed her by her name and not some sort of nickname. "I still don't know what I feel about him getting married."

"What better way to clear up your feelings than by seeing them together face to face?" he asked smartly.

Yuffie smiled faintly and pushed away from him. "I'll go only if you go with me. I just… can't be alone when I see my father with that woman. You think you can get a week off?"

Reno grinned. "Of course I can. You sure you want me to go with you? Won't your old man ask questions about me? And what about your Avalanche buddies?"

She shrugged and tugged on a few strands of his ragged, vibrant spikes. "Tifa and the rest of my friends are probably getting invited if my pops really wants me there. They'll be there either way. And if I have to deal with Godo's new wife, then so does he with you," she replied, leaning in to kiss him and snatching up the white rose he had been holding loosely in one hand. "Why is it that you've given me a white rose every single day from the night we went on a date?"

"I thought chicks liked that stuff," he said with a frown.

Holding his eyes, Yuffie leaned in to run her tongue over his bottom lip, her eyes glinting wickedly. "I like that you give me flowers," she replied.

Reno watched her through half lidded eyes and grinned. "I think I like this kind of response," he said before pulling her towards him and slipping his own tongue into her mouth. Yuffie made a noise as he pressed her against the window, kissing her senseless. She smacked him a little on the shoulders so that he could release her; she wasn't any kind of exhibitionist, despite how much little clothing she wore.

"Whose idea was it?" Yuffie asked, trying to regain her breath.

"What?"

"Come on, Reno. I know that giving flowers isn't something you do," Yuffie said smartly.

Reno glared at her. "Fine. It was Rude's idea," he grumbled. "But I didn't know what to do to get that grin on your face, so he volunteered the little bit of info."

"Well, I'm glad he did," Yuffie said before pulling him down into another kiss.

…………

A week before the wedding, Reno and Yuffie arrived in Wutai. They had come without announcing it, and Yuffie had decided to walk into her country from outside, instead of having them dropped off right in the middle of it.

"So you and your old man fixed this place up again, huh?" Reno asked her.

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah, it took us years, and there's still a lot of stuff we need to do to make it even better. I just… I don't know what I'll do if my old man expects me to come back here permanently."

Reno considered her words and the implications of what she was saying. If her father wanted her to return, that meant he would never see her again. After all, who would let a princess marry a man with so much blood on his hands and no class?

"You just went all sad on me, what's wrong?" Yuffie asked.

"Don't worry about me, babe. I'm just thinking," he said with his usual grin.

"Hmm, I was wondering where all the smoke was coming from," she said thoughtfully. She broke into laughs when Reno wrapped an arm around her shoulders and bit at her jaw.

"I don't appreciate being called an idiot," he growled.

Yuffie smirked. "I didn't call you an idiot. I just said that maybe your brain is a little rusty in the thinking department," she said with a shrug.

"You're lucky I like you," Reno muttered. "Otherwise, I'd introduce you to my rod."

The ninja felt her cheeks color. "I so hope that isn't any kind of euphemism," she muttered.

Reno chuckled and kissed her temple, taking in the sweet scent of her hair. "I'll introduce you to my rod when you're good and ready," he said.

Yuffie slapped him away as he broke into laughs again. It took them almost the entire day to arrive at the pagoda by foot. They had stopped many times along the way to eat and relax in a local park, or just to share a kiss or two away from prying eyes. Walking up to what had stopped being her home since before she had been sixteen, the guards recognized her instantly and allowed her and Reno to pass.

"Wow. It's been a while since I was here too," muttered Reno, taking a look around at the majestic grounds.

Yuffie wondered if he had been there in Wutai when the war had been going on, but she shook the thoughts out of her head. "I don't think dad needs to know right away that you and I are together. Let me see how things stand with me, him, and the wife-to-be, and then I'll tell him that you and I are seeing each other."

"Does the fact that you could possibly introduce me to your pops mean that I'm your boyfriend?" Reno asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Have you asked me to be your girlfriend?"

"No. But… would you like to be my girl?" he questioned.

Yuffie smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

"Good," said Reno, looking around to see if there was anyone to see them. Then he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into the shadows of a huge tree to kiss her deeply.

A few minutes later, looking rumpled and a little flushed, they walked back out and kept walking towards the place Godo would be waiting for them. Yuffie sighed as they came to stand in front of the main doors of Godo's pagoda and hesitated.

"Are you going to stand there all afternoon like a bump on a log?" asked a voice from behind them.

Yuffie turned and managed a small smile as she looked at her father. Standing a small distance away was the woman he had decided to marry. She was pretty, though not as young as Yuffie had expected. She looked to be in her mid-thirties but she was pretty and graceful. "Father," he greeted, doing the same to his future wife.

"I had begun to believe that you would not come. Who is the gentleman with you?"

"This is Reno. He's a friend. I asked him to come with me to keep me company, since Tifa and Cloud won't be here until the day before the wedding," Yuffie said with a small sigh.

"Uh, it's nice to meet you sir," said Reno in his most polite tone. After all, this was the father of his new girlfriend and he needed to make a good first impression.

They shook hands and Godo turned to Yuffie. "A friend you say?"

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah. We've been walking all day, can we get some rest for a little?" she asked impatiently.

Godo narrowed his eyes. "Your _friend_ can go rest, but I do wish that you and I share a cup of tea," he said seriously.

The ninja sighed and knew better than to argue with her father in front of company. Nodding, she gave Reno an apologetic look as one of the maids guided him towards his room. Yuffie walked with her father after watching him whisper a few words to his future wife. And though she had thought it would bother her, Yuffie realized that it truly didn't. She was okay with anything or anyone who put that shine in the old man's eyes.

…………

A snort of laughter reached Yuffie's ears and she sighed in annoyance, cracking open and eye as she looked at Reno. They were sitting lotus style and face to face, while Yuffie had been attempting to teach Reno how to meditate. "You know, your mind should be clear of everything," she muttered, shutting her eyes again.

"Babe, I thought I told you that I'm not good of any of this meditation crap. I can think of better things to do," he said, leaning forward to bite the tip of her nose.

Yuffie shoved him back and smiled. "Don't make me kick your ass, Reno. I'll do it and then hang you by your ponytail from my favorite Sakura blossom tree. I meditate every morning and right now you're interrupting my routine."

Reno sighed and leaned placed his face in one hand as he leaned his elbow onto his knee. He stared at Yuffie as her face cleared of any thoughts. "Are you really not thinking anything at the moment?" he asked.

"I'm thinking how _annoying_ my boyfriend is at the moment," she snapped.

Reno sighed and noticed her eyebrow twitch at the sound. Standing, he slowly walked away from where she was sitting, leaving Yuffie to her peace and quiet. He had never been one to sit still for long periods of time, and he had thought that Yuffie wasn't either. He shrugged to himself as he walked around the gardens, no serious thoughts in his head but wondering just why it was that the flowers smelled so strongly.

"I do hope you are enjoying your stay," said a voice from behind him.

Reno whirled around and stared at Godo. "Uh… yeah, thank you for keeping me," he said with a small shrug.

"Are you truly just my daughter's _friend_?" Godo asked seriously.

Reno didn't know whether to lie to the man or not; he opted to just omit the truth for now. "I… I really like her. She's a true hero," he said quietly.

Godo nodded and smiled. "I know. I'm proud of her, but I see that you decided to ignore my question."

"I think it'd be best if she were the one to answer that question," said Reno evasively.

"Fine. I will ask her myself then. Still… if anything were to be happening between the two of you, I don't think I need to talk to you about treating her the way she deserves to be treated. She is truly Wutai royalty, though we may not enforce royal titles anymore in this day and age. Her ancestors were emperors and queens. Yuffie is something special."

"Don't I know it," Reno murmured. "I understand what it would mean to be with her, sir."

"Good," Godo said with a satisfied nod. "Enjoy your time here young man, and I hope… I hope you make my daughter keep smiling the way I've seen her a few times while she's with you."

Reno nodded and bowed respectfully as Godo began to walk away. Frowning to himself about how strange the conversation with his possible-father-in-law, he made his way back to Yuffie, who was finally standing and doing stretches. She bent down, keeping her legs straight and reached to touch one foot and then the other. "Now this is a side of you I like to see!"

Yuffie stood and turned to him with a small smirk. "How in shape are you?"

Reno thought about it for a moment. "Not very."

"All that booze is going to ruin the great bod you carry around now. I'd hate to see you with a beer belly a few years from now," she said slyly.

"What was the point of your question?" he asked her in annoyance.

"If you can keep up while I run a mile, I promise spend the rest of the day with you," said Yuffie, jogging in place so that she could keep warmed up.

"And if I lose?" Reno asked.

"I'll still spend the day with you, but you'll have to sit with me while I try on my kimono and make sure that it fits and I don't trip on my face during the ceremony," said Yuffie. "You'll be very bored."

Reno grimaced. "You're on. But… of I manage to hang with you, you've gotta promise me to show me around Wutai and all the sights."

"Fine," Yuffie said. Staring behind him, her eyes widened. "Hey… what _is_ that?" she asked, pointing.

"What?" asked Reno, turning. There was nothing there. When he turned back to Yuffie, she had already taken off at a run. "Hey! You're cheating!" he yelled, taking off after her.

"Yeah, well… there's something you didn't know about me. I lie," Yuffie said with a grin.

"A woman after my own heart," Reno muttered to himself with a grin. Then he focused solely on catching up to her and keeping the pace. Too bad the ninja didn't know that he lied too and usually ran two miles every morning. He was lazy in many aspects of his life, but it took effort to keep the hot body he had. Speaking of bodies, he let his eyes travel over Yuffie's legs. Too bad that prevented him from seeing where he was going.

Yuffie stopped at the sound of a pained grunt and turned to see Reno sprawled on the ground after running face first into a tree. "Ha. That means you lose!" she crowed triumphantly.

"This is what I get for having a hot girlfriend," he muttered to himself.

The day of the wedding arrived too soon for Yuffie, but she ignored the little pain in her heart at the thought of her mother, and kept thinking about how happy her father always looked when around his fiancée. The rest of Yuffie's friends had arrived the day before and were all comfortable in rooms, including Vincent. Tifa had only recently helped her into her kimono. Then she had received a summons from her father, and she was making her way out of her room, wondering what he wanted when it was so close to the time of the ceremony.

Picking up the expensive material of her kimono, Yuffie stepped into her father's office after knocking and receiving a response from him. "You wanted to see me, dad?" she asked.

Godo turned to look at her, already dressed in his ceremonial robes and his face nearly glowing in happiness. "You look just like your mother in that kimono," he said quietly.

Yuffie smiled and felt her heart lighten at his words. "Thank you for saying that."

He walked over to touch her cheek. "You are my daughter, and I love you. I know that I have not said that to you in many years, but always know that even if I do not say it, I will always feel it."

Yuffie nodded. "Same here," she muttered.

"Now… are you finally ready to tell me who is this man you have brought with you _really _is?" he asked her. "I want you to be honest with me on this day."

"He…" Yuffie hesitated. "His name is Reno, and he works for Rufus Shinra. He's a Turk," she said quietly, wondering what type of outburst she would get from her father. Godo watched her in silence, thinking. "Say something dad," she nearly pleaded after the silence became unbearable.

"I will give you a choice."

Yuffie sighed heavily. It was either return to the country to take over and marry, or lose her title and be banished, she knew. "What choice?" she asked quietly.

"You can either stay here, and help me rule over our country and our people or… you can leave and start your own life," said Godo lightly.

The ninja looked up and stared at him. "What?"

"You are free to go and marry who you wish if that is what will make you happy," said Godo. "But I will miss you very much if you go."

Yuffie stepped over to hug the old man tightly, her mind scrambling to find the last time she had hugged her father. It had been long before her mother had died. She let out a small, shaky breath when his arms came around her and squeezed her. "You are my daughter, and I love you. I wouldn't want to see you go, but your happiness means everything to me," he said lightly.

Yuffie squeezed him once more before moving back and dabbing at her eyes. "Thank you, father."

"I think I like 'dad' better," said Godo with a smile.

"Are you sure about this, _dad_?" Yuffie asked, searching his expression and eyes.

Godo cupped her face and kissed her forehead gently. "You're asking me if I'm sure I want you to be happy? Of course I am sure then," he said with a smile.

"You'll be okay with whoever I choose to be with?" she asked hopefully.

He made a face that was part grimace, part scowl. "I won't be happy, but I will trust your judgment."

Yuffie nearly leapt at him for another hug. "Thank you, Godo," she said with a smile. "I wish you the best and I hope that you have many many more daughters!"

"Do not say that," Godo muttered. "I at least want one son, but if I end up fathering girls, I hope they are all like you," he said lightly.

Yuffie felt like breaking into tears but forced herself to remain strong. "Come on, old man, you need to get married and you don't want to be later."

Godo nodded and followed his beautiful daughter towards his new life.

The ceremony was beautiful and true to Wutai's ancient customs. It was over before Yuffie could really begin to get bored or even fall asleep, and she rushed to her father's side to congratulate him and her new step-mother. The woman seemed like a good person, all Yuffie could hope for was that she made her father truly happy.

Looking around for Reno, Yuffie spotted him towards the back of the many groups of guests. He waved with one hand, letting her know that he would be okay if she helped her father with the guests and everything else. Turning back to her father, the rest of Avalanche walked over to congratulate him too.

"The wedding was beautiful," Tifa said with a smile, giving Yuffie a squeeze too.

"Dad more or less approved of me dating Reno," Yuffie said brightly.

Tifa hugged her. "That's so great for you!"

"I know. I just hope that something comes of me seeing Reno, though right now no one but you, Cloud, and dad know, oh and I think Vince knows something too," Yuffie said as they began to walk out of the gardens and towards the hall in the pagoda where the food and party would be.

"We'll have to make sure to tell Cid when he's in a good mood. He may treat you like a child still, but I think that it's because he sees you as a daughter, even though he'll never admit to it," Tifa said as Yuffie guided them towards their table.

Yuffie just nodded and tried to think of just how she would tell Cid that she was seeing Reno now. Because telling Cid would be even harder than when she had told her own father.

The dinner consisted of various Wutai foods that had her old friends excited to taste. Yuffie had forgotten just how good their food could be. Then everyone's attention was turned towards the bride and the groom and Yuffie watched the smitten look on Godo's face as he gazed at his bride. Various traditional dances had been prepared and Yuffie remembered many of them from when her mother had been alive and had taught them to her.

It had been years since she had last practiced those dances, but Yuffie couldn't help the painful jolt in her chest at how distant she had become from her country and her past. In her quest to make it all better, she had lost all her roots. Standing, she made her way out, none of her friends noticing since their attention was on the dances. She stepped into her room and changed out of her kimono, taking great care to put all the accessories in their rightful spots.

Once she was done, she pulled on an entirely different dress and made her way back towards the party. She kept her distance and watched everything from outside. She found a good spot where she could observe without being noticed.

"You look beautiful today," Reno said to Yuffie as he came up behind her. She had been standing outside in one of the balconies of the main pagoda, watching her father dance with his new wife and looking happier than she had seen him in so long.

Yuffie grinned and turned to look at Reno, who had pulled off his tie and was looking as sexy as ever. "Thanks. You didn't look so bad yourself. Wearing a proper suit flatters you," she said, tugging on the lapels of his coat.

"Wanna dance?" he asked her.

"Too crowded," she replied.

Reno rolled his eyes. "We'll dance right here then," he said, pulling her into his arms and twirling her once, watching the gown she had changed into flow around her. "Why'd you change out of the other getup?"

Yuffie sighed as she pressed her cheek to his shoulder. "That _getup_ is called a kimono. It belonged to my mother and I didn't want to get it dirty or damaged, since with my luck, something is bound to happen before the night is over."

Reno moved with her a little clumsily and rolled his eyes when he felt a drop of water fall onto his nose. "You were right on that, my white rose," he said with a sigh.

"What?" Yuffie asked, looking at him. Then she felt the drops of rain begin to fall on her too, before the drops turned into a full on deluge of rain. "Shit," she cursed, rushing into the pagoda through the open doors.

Snorting out a small laugh, she didn't get a chance to say anything more before her father had pulled her towards the dance floor and was looking at her in amusement. "It just started raining and I was standing outside," Yuffie muttered.

"You've looked happy every time I've seen you with that man. Are you sure he is safe?" Godo asked her seriously.

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah. Since Meteor and Shinra's destruction, he's changed," she replied, unconsciously moving gracefully with her father. "I wanna be with him."

Godo nodded. "You will have my blessing then, as long as he knows how to take care of you."

"Thank you. I know that we didn't have the best relationship while I was growing up, but I am happy that you're my dad," she said brightly, her eyes looking suspiciously glassy.

Godo's eyes seemed to mirror hers and they hugged right on the middle of the dance floor before they both went their separate ways. Yuffie tugged on Reno's hand as he stood, drinking sake, and they made their ways out of that section of the pagoda and towards a more secluded garden that no one had been allowed in.

"You pulled me away from my sake so that I could stand out here in the rain?" Reno asked her in annoyance.

Yuffie nodded and moved into his arms, reaching up to kiss him hotly. The taste of sake was still on his lips, and it only added to her feelings for him in that moment. "You'd rather drink than kiss me?" she asked him hotly.

Reno thought about it for a moment and then grinned when she punched his shoulder. "No. I think I'd rather do more than kiss you, but I don't think we'd be safe here," he whispered against her ear, his lips rubbing over the cold water droplets on her skin.

"I don't think anyone will interrupt us here. Everyone is partying, and drinking… I think we should have our own party," she said.

"A party without booze!?"

Yuffie kissed him again, this time making sure to snake her tongue into his mouth to do something particularly distracting. Reno groaned into her mouth, moving forward and nearly toppling them to the grass beneath them. "Are you sure you wanna do this out here in the rain and on the grass?" he asked her breathlessly, falling to his knees when he tugged her down.

"I can't think of a better place. We can try the bed later," Yuffie said quickly, sinking down onto the grass and pulling him with her.

Reno just smirked and followed her, proceeding to kiss her senseless as his cool hands peeled down the straps of her dress so that his lips could slide over her breasts. Yuffie gasped and closed her eyes, trying not to arch her head back so that water didn't make its way into her nose to ruin the moment. But she pulled Reno up and unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it from his pants. "We should be quick, it's getting cold," Yuffie whispered against his neck, letting her hands wander to his pants.

Reno groaned as her hands found what she had been searching for and before he knew it, her hand was cool against his still warm skin as it moved down his waist band to grip him gently. "What would your pops say if he knew that I was banging you just a distance away from his wedding party?" he murmured against her jaw, long-fingered hands pulling the soaked material of her dress up and up.

"He'd… take back his offer of letting me chose who I want to be with," Yuffie replied.

Reno stopped inching her underwear down and stared at her. "Does that mean…?"

Yuffie nodded and smiled. "He's okay with us and I don't have to stay in Wutai permanently. Now, it's only a question about what I want to do with my life from now on," she said quietly, more water droplets sliding down her face.

Without warning, he slipped inside her, watching her arch off the grass and grip the soaked material of his coat and shirt. "I want you to be with me."

"Give a girl a warning, won't you?" Yuffie asked breathlessly, her eyes closing at the sensations. She hadn't even been aware that he had pushed off her panties and his pants, but she couldn't deny that it felt too incredible to complain. She had only ever been with one man. And that had been months and months before, a product of too much alcohol after a party. Three guesses who. Yuffie realized that after that night of drunken sex, she'd begun to get over her crush on Vincent, since things had been awkward between them and they had stopped seeing each other for a few months. After that, they had talked about it and had come to a conclusion that things would be better if they ignored that one night in order to salvage a friendship that they both valued. Yuffie had been more than happy to.

The only reason that Reno knew this was that a few days back, after they had arrived in Wutai, he had gotten her to play a ridiculous game of spin the bottle. Whenever the bottle had landed on her, she'd have to drink a cup of Wutai's strongest alcohol. Yuffie remembered that the spin the bottle she knew had been nothing like the one Reno had invented, but she had liked it nonetheless. After she was good and drunk, he had challenged her to truth or dare, and she had spilled. He had gotten jealous, though the resulting kissing and heavy petting had been more than worth it.

Her thoughts seemed to be washing away with the rain as it kept coming down on them. Reno's hips were moving at an even pace, causing Yuffie to dig her nails into his coat and muffle her moans against his shoulder.

Reno groaned and clutched at the grass on either side of Yuffie's head, the feel of her welcoming body an amazing contrast to the cold raining sliding down his neck and lower back. The rain seemed to be coming down harder as Reno's hips keep drilling against hers, and under her, Yuffie could feel something slick and cold, though her mind was too far off to comprehend what it was.

"Do you wanna live with me?" Reno asked, hearing her faint gasping as her release approached at a rapid pace.

"What?" she asked, trying to get her brain to work.

"Live… with… me…" Reno grunted out.

Yuffie couldn't help the muffled moan that sounded like his name, and just hearing her made Reno shudder in pleasure. His thrusts became more frenzied and her release was followed by a muffled scream as she bit into his shoulder. Reno made a low noise in his throat and felt his own body surrender. Nothing had ever felt like that before, but Reno knew that with Yuffie everything was different. All that he was, all that he had been didn't matter to her. He had never known that he would find someone like his ninja, who would see the real man behind his cocky smirk and his flirty words.

Yuffie's head fell back against the grass and she panted lightly, feeling the cold mud seeping into her clothes and hair now that her brain was getting back to normal. She looked into Reno's shiny, blue-green eyes and gave him a serious look. "Did you mean that, or was it because of the moment?" she asked quietly.

"I meant it. I want you to live with me," said Reno with a grin, leaning in to kiss her neck and jaw.

"We've only been dating for like a month, isn't this too soon?"

"Kinda, but we don't have to move in right away. We can look around for a good place for the both of us. Besides, we've seen each other nearly every day of this past month. If we look at it from another point of view, we can count each day as a date," said Reno brightly.

Yuffie hid a big smile and brought her hand up to touch his cheek, smearing mud onto his face. "I think you've got a good idea there. besides, I think I wanna live with you too."

Reno's eyes narrowed as he touched his face and realized that she had dirtied his cheek with wet earth. He grabbed a handful of it and splattered it onto her chest, watching as the mud slid over her breasts. He wasn't much for the bizarre kinkiness—which not many would believe—but he wouldn't mind seeing some type of chocolate sauce or whipped cream sliding over her skin.

Yuffie grinned at the look on his face and hit him with a handful of mud right on his face before pushing him off of her. "It's always sex with you, isn't it you perv?"

"Looking as good as we do, hell yeah!" Reno said, moving to his knees in order to fix his clothes. Then he tackled her to the ground and they rolled around in the mud for a few minutes, kissing and groping each other until Yuffie couldn't stop laughing and shoved him off. "How about we take a nice hot shower now?" he asked, getting to his feet and nearly dripping with mud.

"If you're willing to sneak into the pagoda without alerting the guests, I'd be happy to join you," Yuffie said as she stood and tried to fix her ruined dress. There was mud soaking her entire backside and she knew the maids would have a lot to clean up unless she found a way of getting rid of her dress before getting to her room.

"Let's get into the pagoda and we'll get rid of the dress in the nearest bathroom," Reno offered.

Yuffie nodded and they both made their way out of the garden and towards a different section of the pagoda. They were both grinning like fools, and Yuffie couldn't remember the last time she had felt so carefree and happy.

…………

The following morning, they both had a very rude awakening. "My fuckin' eyes! I'm fuckin' blind! What the hell were you fuckin' thinking brat!?"

Yuffie sat up in her large bed and nearly flashed Cid, who promptly started cursing again. "Shit. Get the hell out of my room!" she yelled angrily, covering herself completely with the blankets. "Haven't you ever hear of knocking, asshole!?" she snapped.

"Fuck you, Yuffie! Lock your damn door! I didn't need to see this shit!" Cid yelled before storming off.

Yuffie turned to look at Reno, and realized that he had slept through the yelling match she'd just had with Cid. She smacked him with a pillow and finally got him to wake-up, grumbling about Rude stealing his booze. "Wake up!"

"What? Why? It's still early, ain't it?"

"You're gonna tell me that you _didn't _hear Cid and me yelling right now?" Yuffie asked dubiously.

Reno sat up and shook his head. "Naw, I didn't hear anything. Didn't I tell you that I'm a heavy sleeper?"

Yuffie rolled her eyes and attempted to get out of bed, but Reno stopped her, a mischievous grin on his face. "Reno, I need to go talk to Cid. He walked in on us while we were sleeping and started cursing. He stormed out before I could say anything," she muttered, letting out a small giggle when Reno's lips slid over her collarbone.

"Captain Smokestack can wait," he muttered, pulling the blankets over their heads. Yuffie giggled and surrendered to him as her laugh trailed off into a small moan.

……………

Yuffie found Cid preparing the Shera, smoking a cig and grumbling curse words every few seconds. "We need to talk, old man," she said quietly.

"Naw, we don't fuckin' need to talk," he snapped, checking over the controls.

"Why are you so angry?" Yuffie asked in exasperation. "You're not my father. I'm a grown woman who can make her own decisions!" she yelled, her patience reaching its limits.

Cid stiffened at her comment that he wasn't her father. He fucking knew that, but that didn't mean that he didn't care about her well being. Stupid brat. "How can you possibly know what you're doing when you're fuckin' banging the guy who tried to kill us more than once?" he asked darkly.

"We're barely getting to know each other. The fact that we're dating and sleeping with each other doesn't mean that we're getting married too. For the first time in my life, I'm doing something that _I _want and not something someone else is telling me to do. Why can't you just trust me to run my own damn life!?" she asked angrily.

Cid looked uncomfortable as he turned to look at her. "Hell, girl… I know I ain't your father, but that don't mean that I don't fuckin' care about what happens to you," he said quickly.

Yuffie's anger melted away at his words. "I care about what you think too, but you've gotta stop treating me like a kid. Cid… I'm not sixteen anymore."

"I know," Cid muttered, turning back to his controls. "I'm not happy about your choice of man. Shit, even Valentine would've been a better choice, but I'll butt out and let you do things that way you wanna."

Yuffie grinned and run up to give him a quick hug from behind. "Thanks, Cid."

"You'll tell me if he ever treats you wrong, won't ya?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Don't think that just because he's with you now I'm gonna suddenly like him and be all buddy-buddy and shit. You tell him that he's gotta earn our acceptance by treating you right," Cid said with a sigh.

Yuffie nodded and grinned to herself. "I'll tell him. But you have to promise not to make faces or be mean whenever he and I are around, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever," muttered Cid.

"Take care of yourself old man," Yuffie said, taking a few steps towards the door. "And I wanna be the first to know when you and Shera finally have kids."

"Yeah, you'll know," Cid said with a smirk, turning to her and watching as she waved before she was out the door. Sighing to himself, Cid lit another cigarette and wondered how he had come to care so much about the ninja brat. He really wasn't happy over who she had chosen to be with, but she was right, it wasn't his choice. All he could do was show her that he indeed respected her by accepting her decisions. It was just hard thinking of her as a woman when they had met her as an annoying teenager. Smiling slightly to himself, he shut off the controls of the Shera and decided to give his wife more time to spend in Wutai. Besides, it wasn't often that she got away from Rocket Town, and he had to admit that he loved to see her smile.

……………

"So… what do you think?"

Yuffie took a look around the two bedroom apartment with wide eyes. It was wonderfully spacious and it had a nice view of the growing city of Edge. Her eyes narrowed. "How much?"

"Enough for both of us to pay it. Edge is still getting on its feet, so homes aren't too expensive. Besides, it pays to work for the man who owns the building," said Reno smugly.

Yuffie walked over to him and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Are you sure you still want to do this?"

"It's taken us some time to find this place, and we've gotten to know each other better in that time. Did you change _your_ mind about wanting to live with me?" he asked her seriously.

She knew that she could count the times he had ever been truly serious in one hand. "I just wanted to make sure that this was what you still wanted. This will be the first time I live with a boy," she muttered.

Reno grinned and kissed her. "This'll be the time I live with a girl. I've lived with Rude for years, and though I'm sure he'll miss me, it's about time we both went our separate ways," he said calmly. Looking around the apartment he sighed. "Is this one okay, then?"

Yuffie turned to look around and tried to imagine the place with furniture suited to their style. She just really hoped that Reno wasn't into animal print or any other tacky stuff. She giggled and turned to her boyfriend, who was watching her with a raised eyebrow and a curious look. "You don't happen to like animal print furniture… do you?" she asked.

He smirked and shook his head. "Naw, but I do have a parrot made of glass that was a birthday gift from Rude, which we'll have to keep."

She tried. She really did try, but she ended up snorting very un-lady like in laughter at the thought of Rude giving Reno something of the sort. "You're serious."

Reno nodded and glared at her when the laughter started once more. Before she knew it, he had her pressed to the wall and his lips were searching hers. Yuffie moaned into his mouth and gasped when his hands groped at her. "What do you say we christen this place now?"

"I'd say it's a good idea," Yuffie muttered before wrapping her arms around his neck.

A long while later, taking one last look around, Reno hadn't realized until that moment just how much he was looking forward to moving in with the ninja. He had been alone for the majority of his life, seeking warmth temporarily with different women, but none had ever been like Yuffie. She was something else, something he very much needed in his life. She was life, warmth, smiles, and hugs. He'd never given thought to taking any woman seriously until Yuffie had walked into his life.

"Ready to go?" Yuffie asked, holding out her hand to him.

Reno nodded and took it. Looking back once at what would be his new home with Yuffie, he smiled to himself. He was glad that she'd finally been able to take him seriously. He wanted to make her happy, and he wanted to be happy. He was just happy that he had decided to romance his ninja because now there was a framed picture of her in his arms and with his goggles on her forehead, sitting in his office at Shinra HQ. Take that Valentine.

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So… how was it? Did I go overboard on the fluff and OOC? According to Final Fantasy Wiki the Sister Ray was left in ruins after Meteor destroyed Midgar, but for fiction purposes, I left it mostly whole here. Also, the whole pizza and wine in Styrofoam cups is a crack from my VincentYuffie fic, _"Princess of Thieves,"—don't mind the shameless advertisement here—_so those of you reading that story should know about it.I want to thank those of you who reviewed, and I'm sorry if I didn't get a chance to reply to you. I've just had a really busy time this past month. Still, know that I'm very grateful for your opinions and it makes me happy to know that you are enjoying this story. Like I said, it's complete, but the next chapter—with the smut and more fluff—should be up in a few days, so don't forget to let me know if I did any good with this chapter! Also, I'll do my best to correct the typos as soon as I can. Have a great weekend everyone and I'll see you soon!

Joey

P.S. So apparently I'm a total dummy because I forgot to split the chapters and posted the entire ending here(I just noticed it two hours after posting). I can't remove them now, since a lot of people have already read the end, so I'll leave it the way it is now. I hope everyone enjoyed the story, since I had fun writing it, but I'm still a diehard VincentYuffie fan and I don't think I'll be writing anymore RenoYuffie fics any time soon. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you had fun!


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